YOU BELONG WITH ME, steve harrington.

040.

JUNE 30TH, 1985
📍scoops ahoy
11:37 PM

"wait, do you hear that?" steve asked.

"hear what?

before she could get an answer, steve ran and pushed open the door, exclaiming, "henderson! henderson! jos, he's back!" josie rolled her eyes, a smile on her face as she entered the front and watched steve and dustin reunite.

"i'm back! you guys got the job!" dustin cheered.

"we got the job!" steve smiled, before imitating a trumpet noise. the two boys got closer, and began doing their signature handshake as robin watched in concern.

"how many children are you two friends with?" she asked them.

"in my defense, they're all my sister's friends," josie said, as she reached over the counter and pulled dustin's cap down. "hey, dustin."

"yeah, and in my defense, they're all my girlfriend's sister's friends," steve answered robin.

"i have a lot to tell you two," dustin voiced. "but first, i need a banana split."

once steve had made a banana split to dustin's approval, the three made their way to a booth in the corner and dustin began telling them about his summer camp.

"so, i met this girl.."

"what?" the two older teenagers exclaimed.

"she's called suzie. shes so smart and she's gorgeous. like, she's hotter than phoebe cates by far," he told them.

"hotter than phoebe cates? no," steve replied with a shake of his head.

"mhm. brilliant, too. and she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. she says kissing is better without teeth.."

steve tilted his head to look at his girlfriend, a look of disgust on his face. she mirrored his expression, before turning to face dustin and putting on a fake smile. "she sounds lovely."

"yeah, that's great," steve nodded along. "proud of you, man. that's ro- that's kinda romantic. that's like.. wow. maybe i should knock all my teeth out and see what jos thinks."

"i'd dump you," josie told him.

"wow, okay then.."

"so, do you guys really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" dustin wondered.

"yeah. i mean, sure. it's not really a good idea for me, though. i gotta keep in shape for when josie moves to california."

"how.. how does that correlate?" the boy asked.

josie sighed. "steve is paranoid that i'm going to fall in love with a smart stanford guy."

"i'm not paranoid.." steve denied. "i just want to look good so every time someone tries to flirt with jos, she'll remember that she has a super hot boyfriend at home. and, when i come to visit, i can scare off anyone who wants to date her with my devilishly good looks."

"so, what, are you going to fight off anyone who tries to steal your girl, steve?" dustin teased. "you won't win. remember when billy had a thing for her and then you guys fought it out. what happened then?"